Airplane Gully

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Airplane Gully

Airplane Gully

Icy slabs caused us to exit the canyon up Airplane Gully just above and left of Pywiack Cascade. The 18 cylinder radial engine is in the upper bushes in this photo. The engine seems to have come from a Navy Skyraider (AD-6 139669) lost in the early 60's. Some say it came from the famous 1977 drug plane but that plane (LOCKHEED PV-1 N80BD) crashed about 18 miles to the south after losing a wing. Seems unlikely it would toss an engine that far when it was headed from Baja to Reno. Update I have received documents from the Naval Historical Center. The crash was 24, March 1959 and Peter Rippa, the commander of Attack Squadron VA-215 based in Alameda, was killed. He was leader of a flight of three AD-6 Skyraiders that flew up the valley as part of a training mission with overcast at 8000 ft. At the head of the "blind canyon" they were in trouble. One aircraft exited the head of the canyon and one aircraft managed to complete a 180 degree turn. Rippa tried to turn back down the canyon but impacted with wings parallel to a cliff while in a 45 degree bank. One prop was found 500 feet above the impact and the rest fell into the gully.
danmerrick
on Oct 20, 2008 12:13 am
Image ID: 455050

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kendog

kendog - Jun 21, 2012 3:39 am - Hasn't voted

Skyraider intact, 1975

Dan,
Thanks for posting this, especially the documentation of the crash in 1959. My brother Jim and I descended through Tenaya Canyon in the first week of June, 1975. We encountered the cracked-up but intact AD-6 Skyraider in all its glory, shocked to see such a big plane in here. I remember thinking at first it was a Thunderbolt because of the 360 degree glass (plexiglas?) cockpit. But the plane was shiny and bright in the alpine sun at that time. I understand the military disassembled it and took away everything but the radial engine later in '75.

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